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The FSA has also banned Laurenti from carrying out any significant influence function in the future and cancelled the permission of IMAS.

Laurenti was the director of IMAS and solely responsible for ensuring that all activity at the firm complied with FSA standards.

During its investigation, the FSA found that Laurenti had failed to implement appropriate systems and controls leading to a catalogue of errors.

These included submitting multiple mortgage applications for eight customers containing inconsistent personal and financial information and failing to gather adequate information about his customers in order to make informed decisions about their mortgage needs.

Laurenti failed to recommend mortgages to customers without first assessing their affordability and failed to maintain up-to-date customer records, leading to the submission of mortgage applications containing inaccurate information.

The FSA also found that Laurenti had a residential mortgage on a property in Liverpool, rented it out for two years, but did not submit “a consent to let” application form seeking permission to do so from his mortgage lender.

The FSA says as a professional mortgage intermediary, Laurenti should have known to submit an application to the lender.

It adds that all these failings arose from Laurenti’s lack of competence and capability.

Laurenti agreed to settle at an early stage of the FSA’s investigation and therefore qualified for a 30 per cent discount, which brought his penalty down from £20,000

In an unrelated cased, the FSA has also banned Mukhtar Khan, a Blackburn-based insurance broker trading as United Finance and Insurance Services, for not being fit and proper on competence and capability grounds.

There are plenty of office parties and Christmas events going on at this time of year. But have no fear – you can still stay healthy while going out and enjoying yourself, with a little bit of planning!

Along with all the other firms that provide advice on defined benefit transfers, we received our questionnaire from the FCA about the quantity and nature of cases we have handled since 2015. By the time you read this, the deadline for its return will have passed and those under scrutiny will have breathed a collective […]

18th December 201812:39 pm

Comments

There are 4 comments at the moment, we would love to hear your opinion too.

Well Dr Doom!, to be fair my comment was a bit tongue in cheek however you do have to wonder what the FSA actually means by “without first assessing affordability”

I don’t trust the FSA judgement and this maybe more about not having the correct paper work on file, then whether he actually did or did not assess the client’s affordability. Don’t forget this is a mortgage so the affordability has to be assessed by the lender anyway. Notice the FSA aren’t saying that he didn’t assess affordability, just that he can’t prove that he didn’t do it FIRST. ie the right order.

Remember the FSA takes the view that if it is not on the file (whatever the other evidence may be) it never happened.

I didn’t say he didn’t do anything wrong, but you can read the story 2 ways and if it was just paperwork then it seems heavy handed to sling him out of the industry. There is no suggestion of fraud here.

I am also a bit perturbed that FSA went to length of checking whether or not his own mortgage actually had consent to let on it. Big brother really is watching you!!

I’m really just expressing my lack of confidence in the FSA common sense or their ability to see the wood for the trees. Afterall, the FSA have proved that they are very good at throwing out the baby with bathwater!

Well if he was an Appointed rep then 1 – he wouldn’t have been even looked at and 2 He would still be working away without a care.The FSA are very fine and good at fining and banning a small one man band.How many directors of the main networks have been fined and banned answer is NONE.

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